Dr Laura K. Taylor, Associate Professor at the UCD School of Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Helping Kids! Lab, has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant for her GENERATION EU project. The award, worth €2 million, will support her research into how young people develop and align with a ‘European’ identity and the implications this has for social cohesion and peace.
The ERC announced €728 million in Consolidator Grants this year, supporting 349 mid-career researchers through the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. This round was one of the most competitive to date, with 3,121 applications submitted.
Professor Niamh Moore Cherry, College Principal at the UCD College of Social Sciences and Law, welcomed the announcement, saying, “Recognition of Assoc Prof Taylor’s research by the European Research Council through this award is most welcome given the timeliness of her GENERATION EU project on understanding how young people are developing and identifying with the idea of being European amidst great geopolitical uncertainty and polarisation. The GENERATION EU project builds on her previous work with children and young people in divided societies and will help us to better understand and foster inclusivity and social cohesion. We look forward to following this important research as it progresses.”
GENERATION EU will examine how European identity develops from childhood to young adulthood, and how this shapes prosocial behaviour, cohesion and peacebuilding. Drawing on cross-national surveys, experiments and large-scale data analysis, the project will offer new interdisciplinary insights and tools for the fields of psychology and peacebuilding.
Dr Taylor explained, “Superordinate identities, or overarching categories, like ‘European’, can be used to include or exclude. Such identities may help unite conflict rivals. My (opens in a new window)research in conflict zones across the continent shows that children who felt more European were more likely to act prosocially - to help and share - with conflict-rival peers. However, at a national level, there are examples where such categories have also been used to exclude and penalise minority groups."
Dr Taylor’s award reflects the growing strength of social sciences research at UCD and the College of Social Sciences and Law’s commitment to supporting impactful, internationally recognised scholarship.
Learn more about the ERC Consolidator Awards and see the full list of awardees (opens in a new window)here.